Calvert claims third straight regional title

ELIDA – Calvert faced a little bit of adversity Saturday.After rolling to comfortable wins in the first two sets, the Senecas trailed more than halfway through the third set.But as all good teams do, Calvert responded.The No. 1 Senecas scored nine of the final 13 points of the match, defeating Miller City 25-17, 25-10, 25-22 in a Division VII regional final at the Elida Fieldhouse."I think we needed to lean into each other and come together as a team," Calvert junior Karris Marinis said. "In situations like that, it's important for us to focus on each other and positivity. We did that in the third set."Calvert improved to 27-0 and will face New Philadelphia Tuscarawas Central Catholic (22-5) in a state semifinal at 8 p.m. Thursday at Vandalia Butler High School."It's exciting," Calvert junior Bella Borgio said. "It's a new experience every time. I wouldn't want to change it."The Wildcats (20-7) came out with a renewed energy in the third set. Calvert found itself down 5-1 early, but rallied to tie the set at 7.Miller City kept playing well and used blocks from Genna Otto and Savanna Niese to go up 16-13.Calvert was still down 18-16 later when it picked its play up a notch.Two errors by the Wildcats and a kill from Emily Miller helped the Senecas go up 19-18.It was just 22-21 later when a net violation on Miller City and kill from Borgio brought up match point.The Wildcats faded match point with a kill from Otto, but Megan Rombach blasted a kill to send Calvert to its fifth regional title in eight seasons under coach Lori Rombach."I give a lot of kudos to that coach and that team," coach Rombach said. "They are a together team. Every coach talks to their team about playing as one and not playing as individuals. That team felt like one. We were playing against one unit over there. I give their team, coaches and players a lot of credit for that. When you're playing against that, it makes it hard."They brought up some saves that we thought we put down. They never gave up, so it was a really good effort on their part."The Senecas dominated the first two sets.Calvert was able to win points in bunches to open its lead in the first set. Three straight points, capped on an ace and kill from Borgio, made it 9-5.Later, the Senecas opened a 15-8 lead when Borgio bludgeoned a kill.Calvert was able to trade points the rest of the way before Marinis smacked a kill and a hitting error by Miller City put Calvert up 1-0."I think the girls came out strong," coach Rombach said. "If I'm being honest, I don't think it was our best match. We fought through some things that we don't normally fight through, which you're going to have that. It's a high school group of girls."I think we played one of best matches of the season against Kalida. When you try to come out and match that, sometimes it's hard."The Senecas were about as dominant as can be in Set 2.Kills from Rombach and Miller helped Calvert to the first six points of the set. Marinis added a block, Miller lined another kill and Rombach stuffed a block to make it 6-0.Ava Reichley scored a kill to get the Wildcats on the board, but kills from Rombach and Borgio extended the lead to 10-2.Not much went wrong for Calvert in the set. Later, the Senecas scored four straight points to make it 14-3.A block and ace from Waire helped Calvert extend the margin to 19-5. Two kills from Borgio and another by Rombach sealed the second set win for the Senecas.Calvert picked up the win despite struggling from the service line. After 24 aces in a win over Kalida on Thursday, the Senecas tallied just three aces to 12 errors against Miller City."Our serve game against Kalida was the best it has been," coach Rombach said. "It's hard to match that to the next match. I give a lot credit to Avery Elchert and Scarlett Faber, who came off the bench in the third set. We needed them to get the ball over and in and not only did they get the ball over and in, they were aggressive serves."When you're part of a team, that's what you have to be prepared for."Borgio, who is committed to play collegiately at Division I Santa Clara, finished with 13 kills while Rombach lined 10 kills. Miller added nine kills while Marinis and Waire each clocked seven kills.Bryn Dircksen contributed 32 assists and 10 digs, Claire Schoenberger had 14 digs and Kate Coleman had 10 digs."It's a wonderful thing for our school and program," said coach Rombach of the Senecas' third straight regional championship. "I guess we'll take today and celebrate that, but my eyes are always forward. We're not finished yet. We're not going to be happy just getting to Dayton."We have more work to do. We have a job we have to finish. That's where our focus has to be."